ClearOne Digital Media - Manual (Page 34)

Q: What are the risks to a dealer if installing non-conforming HDCP
products?
Note: it is not the purpose of this FAQ to provide legal advise which is why ClearOne
suggests any dealer with legal questions consult an experienced Attorney on the subject of
DRM and specifically HDCP.
HDCP is licensed by the Digital Content Protection LLC (DCP) http://digital-cp.com/ which
means every licensee agrees to explicit terms of use and implementation. For this reason,
and given the serious view content owners rightfully take on protecting their valuable
intellectual property (movies), any licensee found to be improperly implementing the
technology will likely face legal action. Though this may not affect a dealer directly, what
could affect a dealer is if the vendors products were rendered useless because of key
revocation.
One of the attractive features of HDCP is the ability to revoke access on certain devices
should the master keys be compromised. This allows content providers a method to
prevent further content access on infringing devices, while allowing unimpeded support
on devices which have not been compromised. This means a potential risk for any dealer
selling products not conforming to HDCP fully is at some point content from certain studios
may no longer play. If this were to happen, you can imagine how difficult it would be to
explain to a client why the system works with some content but not others.
It is not ClearOne’s purpose to predict what the studios will do, but instead educate dealers
on the issues. We encourage every dealer with concerns to first not take them lightly, and
second, consult appropriate legal advice, as the facts and application around every project
will be different.
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pg 34 StreamNet Digital Media and System Design Reference Guide
HDCP Quick FAQ